Innovative and functional

Window balconies overcome the mandatory building bye-laws to fulfil the necessity of a balcony

In a residential building, people have the comfort to enjoy balconies attached to bedrooms, dinning and kitchen. Specially those attached to kitchen and dining halls come handy for different utilities such as dish washing, placing washing machine and drying clothes. And in some cases, they too get converted as store room sort of facility and help the dweller keep away things that are not part of daily use.

With the coming of apartment culture, balconies have become a necessary in urban areas. Usually the balconies protrude into the setbacks all around. However, after implementation of G.O. No.86 and 171 (dated 03-03-2006 and 19-04-2006 of MA & UD (M) dept. Of A.P.), the practise has been discontinued.

As per the bye laws No.12 of the 86 G.O., ‘No balcony projections or corridor shall be permitted beyond the setbacks i.e., projecting within the mandatory open spaces in case of non-high rise buildings. These, if provided for, shall be set back as per the minimum mandatory open spaces and the setback shall be clear from the edge of the balcony or corridor’.

To address this shortage of balconies, came the invention of window balconies. They are not bay windows, but, fabricated with wrought iron square sections a cage like metal frame projected out some 2 feet same as the chajjas, from the window, covering full width and height and welded to the anchored rods into the wall.

This type of innovation seems to be catching up and can found in different parts of the city. It also shows how the mandatory building bye-laws are overcome to fulfil the dire necessity of a balcony.

It can be said that these window balconies will soon become a common architectural feature in every city of the State in coming years.

The writers are architects and can be contacted at ‘archineers212@yahoo.com’

Slideshow

On the occasion of World Wildlife Day, U.N. General Secretary Ban ki-moon released a statement urging all consumers, suppliers and governments to treat crimes against wildlife as a threat to sustainable future. (Photos: AP, Reuters, The Hindu)

Arvind Kejriwal's emergence as a natural leader of the poor and minorities is a riveting story, as riven with contradictions as it is full of surprises. The Hindu Centre's Senior Fellow Vidya Subrahmaniam, traces his rise from activism to political stardom.
Read more. »